Page 110 of The Bones of the Cursed

Kailu and I race to her. Pushing her hair back from her face, I feel for a pulse, my heart stuttering when I find none. Kailu drops to his knees by my side, attempting to resuscitate her, not stopping even when footsteps sound behind us. Hannah gasps, Siveral trying to comfort her. I can scent Elion’s anger and pain. My father’s loss and fear. Even as Kailu works to bring her back, she looks so serene, almost as if she’s just sleeping.

“Please don’t leave us. Come back.” Kailu pleads, not stopping until Viros pulls him away. I scoop her into my arms, rocking her back and forth.

I’m not sure how long I sit with her body cradled in my embrace, Kailu holding her hand and staring into her face.People begin filtering out, taking stock of our losses. I feel a strong grip on my shoulder. My father kneeling next to me.

“Let’s take her home, son.”

I pick her up, unwilling to let anyone else touch her. “Kailu.”

He turns his bloodshot eyes towards me. He loved her so much.

“I want Iclas’s head on a spike.”

He nods slowly. “I will get Siveral on it.”

“Oh. And Levi.”

They all pause, Elion gives me a questioning stare.

“Alanis sent me a message right before she…” I swallow hard, not willing to voice the truth. I clear my throat. “Levi is a traitor. He was planted in your lives by Iclas.”

“FUCK!” Elion screams, tugging at his hair.

The journey home is a blur. I hold my mate tightly the entire boat ride. I’m in a trance when I walk through the castle doors. My mother’s cries of sorrow echo through the halls. The healer has a bed prepared in the healing quarters. For a split second I think she is going to heal her, until I see the black bedding. The black veil meant to be laid over her body.

My chest aches. I’m not sure how, seeing as it is now just an empty cavity. When Alanis left this world, she took my heart with her.

Now I’m just an empty shell.

Laylani goes to place the black veil over her, but I halt her movements, not ready to say goodbye. She glances between myself and Kailu before backing away, letting us have this moment with Alanis.

I grab her hand, the warmth of it shocking me. I kiss her fingers, each one.

“I can’t do this without you. I don’t want to. You were supposed to be by my side until we grew old and gray. I never told you, but you saved me. Before you I was so lost. Unsure ofwhat I wanted out of life. And then there you were, just standing in that cave, your fire and sass shining like a beacon. The second your eyes locked on mine, I could feel it. I didn’t know what it was at first, not until you were hurt. But there was this thing drawing me to you, and Gods, was it the best thing to ever happen to me. You always say you don’t need a male to save you. I was your knight in shining armor one time, but every other time it was you, firecracker. You saved me. Every damn day you saved me. All those fairy tales really got it wrong. I think the princess is the one who saves the prince in the end.”

Tears stream down my face, my chest pinching at the profound loss. Months. We only hadmonthstogether when it should have been centuries.

“I felt it,” Kailu whispers. “The mating bond, right before she…before she died.” His voice cracks on the last word.

I stare at him, and then anger surges through my body. The fucking Fates did this. The Fates and their stupid games.

Iclas and his greed for power. His unhinged ass couldn’t handle rejection, and he turned into a fucking loon.

Those damn Gods and Goddesses, who stood there and ripped her from this world. They took her from me without a thought. Without a care for the destruction they left behind. The never-ending pain and agony that my and Kailu’s souls would be in until we took our last breaths.

Soft footsteps catch my attention. I would recognize them anywhere. I’ve been listening to them pad along the castle corridors since I was just a babe.

My mother’s tender hands brush across my back. My body is exhausted from being in my dragon form, the shift happening so abruptly that it shook me to my core.

“The matriarch is here with her coven. They would like to pay their respects,” the queen whispers.

I laugh. Ironic, seeing as the damn witch couldn’t bother withrespect while Alanis was alive. Now that she’s…dead.

Grief overwhelms me, my body shaking with sobs. My mother wraps me in her arms, cradling me for the first time in decades.

“Shh, Mal. Shh.” She soothes me like a newborn, the effect just as calming as it used to be when I was only a boy.

I wipe my hands down my face, inhaling deeply before telling her to let the Witches inside. Kailu stands to make room but does not release Alanis’s hand.

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